Monday, October 31, 2016

I was a big baby. So big, in fact, I earned a lovely nickname from my parents: Buddha belly. LOL The story of my big belly has been told several times through my life, and holds a special place in my heart. Michael even calls me that after a particularly hearty meal. You know, the one where pant belts and zippers need to be untied and you feel like you're about to burst.

In Itaewon, there's a restaurant named Buddha's Belly. Of course I've
taken several pictures and sent them to my parents, declaring that I
have to eat there at some point.

In our excursions to
Myeongdong and Itaewon at the beginning of the month, I picked up a
miniature Buddha. He sits with the UO-esque home on Michael's desk.

Repurchase: Yes! This was a perfect melt to set the mood for hayrides and mazes and pumpkin carving. Not that I got to do any of that, but I've been living vicariously through YouTube vloggers' videos. :)

Saturday, October 15, 2016

Last weekend I spent more time working on my Korean and had a very lazy weekend. Friday we weren't able to go to the international fireworks festival we wanted to attend, and Sunday ended up making up for that excitement in a way I did not ask for.

Cold Sniff: 5/5 A surprising mix of something orange and creamy with a hint of tea and berries.

Warm Sniff: 5/5 I wouldn't call this a typical fall/Halloween scent, which is exactly what I've been craving. I feel like every fall, halloween, and winter themed scent has to have some cinnamon in it, and my nose is getting a bit tired of the same old scent. Anyway, once melted this had a very very slight fizz to it that melds with sweet strawberries and tea in a way that pleases my nose. I've already melted the rest of this clamshell and loved every minute of it!

Scent Strength: 1.5/3Scent Throw: 3/3 This filled the entire office, kitchen/dining area, and hallway.Melting Power: 4/5 I got about seven and a half hours of strong scent from two cubes.

Repurchase: Definitely! This scent also works for any time of year, so that's a double bonus for me.

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Okay, I admit the finished product isn't that photogenic, but it tastes delicious as all get out!

I've grown up with two Filipino dishes taking a prevalent place in my life: chicken adobo and pancit. Those are my dad's favorite "home" meals, so whenever we visit my grandparents they are always on the menu. For my freshman year of college, I visited my grandparents for Thanksgiving and came back with a Filipino-sized helping of both meals. Between both foods, I was fully fed for the rest of the semester.

My mom learned how to make these meals from Grandma, but there is always a different taste to her versions versus Grandma's versions. I love both equally, but I usually refer to Mom's as the American version and Grandma's as the Filipino version. I've only ever made pancit, and my version is vastly different from Mom's or Grandma's. Michael and I lovingly refer to my abominations as "bastardized pancit."

Enter my most recent attempt at pancit, which morphed into the hodgepodge of cultures above. It's delicious, though, so that's all that matters! So delicious, Michael and I are incorporating it into our normal meals we make.

*Disclaimer: I am not an official chef and I also don't write tutorials often so excuse my inability to write coherent cooking step-by-steps. I also have a bit of a snarky personality so excuse my horrible humor.

Saturday, October 8, 2016

In seventeenth-century China, in an elaborate villa on the shores of Hangzhou's West Lake, Peony lives a sheltered life. One night, during a theatrical performance in her family's garden, Peony catches sight of an elegant, handsome man and is immediately overcome with emotion. So begins Peony's unforgettable journey of love and destiny, desire and sorrow, the living world and the afterworld. Eventually expelled from all she's known, Peony is thrust into a realm where hungry ghosts wander the earth, written words have the power to hurt and kill, and dreams are as vivid as waking life. Lisa See's novel, based on actual historical events, evokes vividly another time and place - where three generations of women become enmeshed in a dramatic story, uncover past secrets and tragedies, and learn that love can transcend death. Peony in Love will make you ache in heart and mind for young Peony and all the women of the world who want to be heard.

Friday, October 7, 2016

Greetings, everyone! I hope this post finds you well, and if you happen to be reading this from any of the areas in the path of Hurricane Matthew, I hope your reading this means the danger has passed and you are safe. For my Fall event I'd like to showcase the Seoul International Fireworks Festival.

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Aahhh, October. We're full steam into fall now. Leaves are reaching full color change. Sweaters have been hauled out of storage. Hot chocolates are being sipped again. Pumpkins are out. Halloween costumes need to be picked. Christmas trees are showing up in stores. Wait . . . what?!

Let's get back to the spooky task at hand. The Band of Bloggers ghoulishly fun question for October is:

What do ghosts smell like?

If I had to pick something that ghosts smell like, I would have to go with smoke. The smoky breath of a campfire on a crisp fall night. There is no warmth, but the smell hints at it before stealing your breath away in icy despair.

Sorry, I couldn't resist turning that into a little bit of a writing prompt. :)

This is one of Michael's friends that he let live on the porch all summer. I did not find him until I started cleaning the porch and noticed him and three others similar to him just hanging out. Unfortunately, these are poisonous and I had to evict them. I'm finally prepping the porch for a deep clean that it's needed since yellow dust season, so I doubt even these mild-mannered guests would allow me to clean without a little bitey-bitey.

Creamy pie goodness that's loaded with just enough pumpkins and apples to leave you wanting more. Just a teeny tiny hint of cinnamon.

Scent Strength: 2/3

Scent Throw: >3/3 This filled the entire house. Even closed doors were no match. The windows were open, too, which can sometimes help throw but more often than not steal away all of the waxy goodness to the outdoors.

Melting Power: 5/5 I got 12 hours, or about 2 tealight candles, from half of a leaf. I wish I had cut the leaf into smaller chunks, but I did not expect this kind of performance when I prepared the wax to melt.

Repurchase: Definitely! The only thing keeping me from ordering is my ever growing list of other vendors I want to try. As part of my attempts to try new things in Korea, I'm trying to extend that philosophy to other areas of my life. Don't get too comfortable with what I have and let that comfort zone dictate my life and all that jazz.

Warm Sniff: 3/5 Holy cow, that cinnamon went up a notch. The creamy marshmallow pumpkin bread was still there, but this very much became a cinnamon-centric scent. I'm not quite sure that's what I was going for when I melted this.

Scent Strength: 2.5/3

Scent Throw: >3/3 This filled the entire kitchen/dining area, hallway, office, part of the living room, and all of the entryway. Basically, this puppy threw.

Melting Power: 5/5 I got about 10 hours of scent from half a tart cup.

Repurchase: Probably not, just because there was so much cinnamon in this melt. I'm all for cinnamon scents, but that wasn't what I was going for here.

Saturday, October 1, 2016

I don't know when the flame went out. It was something that happened
gradually. So gradually I didn't notice until it was too late. So
gradually, I didn't notice the increase in nothingness that had
become my life until I realized I was staring blankly at my computer
screen, feeling none of the passion, the happiness, the creativity that
used to envelope my mind with bursts of color and sound. Reading became a
gray scale movie stuck on mute, a ghost of the effervescent dreams that
would swim 'round and 'round my brain, bursting at the edges and
flooding beyond the pages. The notes on the music sheets no longer
danced around with glee, no longer enticed me to translate the black and
white to vibrant sound that pierced the soul. Instead I watched from my
mind's cage as the world around me withered into a fuzzy shadow of what
used to be. It taunted me with small bursts of color, but they were
always too fleeting to grasp. After a while I stopped acknowledging even
those small bits of color, succumbing instead to the darkness.